The boundless forest surged and receded like the tides of a vast ocean.
In the height of midsummer, the ancient trees of the primeval forest reached skyward in dense foliage. Cicada cries and beast howls echoed ceaselessly, while now and then, the faint tremors of colossal beasts moving through the woods vibrated through the earth.
Yet amidst this tranquility of nature, two figures skimmed past treetop after treetop.
A man and a woman, swift, yet completely silent.
By the time the disturbed twigs and fallen leaves drifted tardily downward, their silhouettes had already appeared a hundred meters away.
After an untracked amount of time,
gazing at the monotonous expanse of dense branches around them, the look in the man's eyes had grown somewhat numb.
Seven years had passed since he and this washboard Saintess entered the illusion.
And what they had done over these seven years was quite simple:
Flee.
Flee constantly.
Flee eternally.
Compared to the present world of Great Yan, under the influence of the Source Qi surges twenty thousand years ago, this illusionary world was one where Origin Realm experts practically walked every street, and Grandmasters weren't even worth a dog.
This also meant that the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and the Taiqing Dao Palace had legions of high-level enforcers to hunt the two of them down.
Even more importantly,
this generation's Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master lacked the convenient habit common villains had of feeding their underlings to them one by one.
In the very first year he and Tianyan fled, the Pavilion Master dispatched a powerhouse of the Transcendent Realm to lead the hunt.
When that pursuit yielded no results, a Saint was subsequently assigned year-round specifically to lead the search for him and Tianyan.
What was even more despairing was that
the other side possessed the Heaven-Deducing Art.
Though the world was vast, there was no longer any place for him and her to hide.
Whenever they settled in a place, pursuers would arrive in as little as five days or as long as a few months.
No matter how secretly they hid or what mystic realm they stayed in, the pursuers clung to their backs like maggots on a bone.
Yet everything was relative,
because they had the Heaven-Deducing Art too.
Whenever the other side performed a deduction, Tianyan could sense it, allowing them to flee in advance and avoid being cornered right at their doorstep.
Between chasing and fleeing, seven years slipped by in the blink of an eye.
"Don't space out. Your qi is scattering."
A crisp, cool voice of a young woman suddenly sounded in Xu Yuan's mind, tinged with mild disdain. "The moment you leave Source Qi fluctuations behind, that woman Tianye can follow the aura right to our doorstep."
Xu Yuan's expression turned solemn at her words, then he chuckled softly.
"Your Lord Pavilion Master certainly takes us seriously. After having one Holy Son slaughtered, he now sends over another Saintess. Your Overseeing Heaven Pavilion really is wealthy and deep-pocketed."
"So much nonsense."
Tianyan cast Xu Yuan a cold, sidelong glance. In her pale purple celestial dress, she accelerated in an instant, tracing an exquisite silhouette through the lush green forest before vanishing from Xu Yuan's view.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan exerted strength through his feet and quickly caught up with her.
Although his combat prowess was dismal right now, his body's cultivation realm had broken through to the Origin Realm three years ago.
This could be considered a cheat Yuchu had granted him; his cultivation growth was synchronized in real time with the rate at which Jinghe had once progressed.
Tianyan had broken through to the Origin Realm anew on her own, whereas he did not need to cultivate at all for his cultivation to climb steadily.
Once he drew near to Tianyan, Xu Yuan glanced at the primeval forest bathed in golden sunset and asked softly,
"Is it all right for your Source Qi to dissipate like that?"
Ever since fleeing their previous stop at Qinhua Town, he had relied entirely on physical strength to travel, whereas Tianyan had been constantly operating the Heaven-Deducing Art.
Without turning her head, Tianyan kept her stern little face fixed straight ahead.
"It doesn't matter."
"Why?"
"The Source Qi circulated by the Heaven-Deducing Art leaves no trace."
"Are you sure?"
"Aren't you annoying? I said it doesn't matter, so it doesn't matter. Focus on traveling!"
"Tsk, is it your time of the month?"
"What?"
"Your period."
"Xu Changtian, I'm warning you, stop pestering me with nonsense!"
Tianyan's temper was unusually irritable today.
Xu Yuan looked innocent.
"I just wanted to ask why that Pavilion Master suddenly dispatched another Saintess, and why I can't use Source Qi to travel."
"I don't know," Tianyan answered curtly.
"Really?" Xu Yuan gave her a suspicious look.
After locking eyes for an instant,
Tianyan took a deep breath and sighed softly.
"If I answer you, don't bother me again. Deducing heavenly secrets with the Heaven-Deducing Art doesn't come without a price. After seven years, this generation's Pavilion Master is probably nearing his limit."
"..."
Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
It seemed deducing heavenly secrets was indeed a burden on the Pavilion Master himself.
Pausing for a beat, Xu Yuan asked,
"What does that have to do with that Saintess?"
"Even if Source Qi dissipates, it inevitably leaves behind traces belonging to the cultivator in the world."
The wind rushing past whipped her supple long hair into disarray, her voice laced with impatience. "Ordinary cultivators cannot see such traces, but the Heaven-Deducing Art can."
Xu Yuan stroked his chin and sent a voice transmission:
"Then sending that woman over right from the start..."
"Her cultivation wasn't high enough."
Tianyan cut him off directly. "The strongest Holy Son of this generation, Tianrui, was already killed by you seven years ago. That woman likely only just broke through to the Origin Realm. If she were sent to hunt us down as a third-rank, first, her perception wouldn't be sharp enough, and second, she would easily end up dying at our hands."
Xu Yuan pondered for a moment.
"So does that mean the intensity of the pursuit we face will gradually lessen in the future?"
Tianyan glanced at Xu Yuan, fell silent for a few moments, and murmured softly,
"Perhaps. After all, we two aren't the only ones the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion needs to guard against. The various sects under heaven are all waiting for the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion to decline."
"Heh, you sound just like a traitor. How about you defect to our Prime Minister's Manor..."
"Xu Yuan!"
Tianyan halted midair, her small face flushed red. "Do you believe I'll leave you stranded right here?"
Xu Yuan wasn't frightened in the least by her words, smiling faintly as he looked at her toothless threat.
If Tianyan left, without her perception of the deductions, he most likely wouldn't even survive the next pursuit.
Yet the same applied to Tianyan.
Looking around, the entire world was their enemy; the only ones they could truly trust were each other.
The Charm God cherry poison was a ticking time bomb inside her body.
Without outside help, once the poison flared up, it meant certain death for her as well.
The sun sank behind the western hills.
She stood suspended in midair; he stood atop a tree trunk.
The golden sunset flushed her blushing, fluttering little face.
Gazing at each other in silence,
Tianyan bit her lip and gave a heavy, cold snort.
"Let's go."
"All right."
Xu Yuan chuckled upon hearing that.
Tianyan shot him a glance and circulated her art, preparing to leave.
And right at that moment,
amidst the cries of beasts and birds in the sunset-draped mountain woods,
the slender young woman in the pale purple celestial dress ahead suddenly plummeted toward the forest below...
Xu Yuan's pupils shrank.
With a stomp of his foot, an afterimage flashed past.
Xu Yuan caught the falling young woman in midair.
The moment he felt her boiling-hot body temperature through her clothes, Xu Yuan understood what had happened.
Her condition was flaring up.
After seven years, he was already thoroughly accustomed to it.
Holding the young woman in a bridal carry, he descended slowly to the ground.
Sheltered by dense branches, the foot of the hundred-meter-tall tree was rather chilly, but the delicate body in his embrace was scalding hot.
Tianyan recovered from her brief lapse of consciousness:
"Let... let go of me."
Xu Yuan let out a soft sigh.
"Are you injured?"
"No."
Tianyan flatly denied it.
Xu Yuan gave a quiet snort, his gaze amused.
After a brief silence, Tianyan closed her eyes, and two words of power slipped from her rosy lips:
"Calm."
"Focus."
With those words spoken,
Tianyan opened her eyes and bit her lip.
"W-We need to leave here immediately. In my current state, if they catch up, we won't be able to escape at all."
Saying this, Tianyan struggled to get down from Xu Yuan's arms, but the more she struggled, the more the masculine scent in such close proximity caused her body temperature to heat up even further.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan gently set her down from his embrace.
The moment her feet touched the ground, Tianyan attempted to take flight.
Yet Xu Yuan, quick of eye and hand, grabbed hold of her.
Clasping the young woman's slender, fair wrist, Xu Yuan's voice was neither warm nor cold:
"Your injuries seem quite severe. Even the Heaven Character True Words' effect in suppressing the charm poison has weakened.
"Rest. I'll help heal you."
"I said I'm fine!" Tianyan sounded frantic.
Her crisp voice echoed, startling a flock of birds in the woods.
Xu Yuan looked at her and calmly repeated:
"Rest. I'll help heal you."
With that, he pushed her down to sit against the gnarled roots of the hundred-meter-tall tree.
"Let go of me!"
Tianyan's willow-leaf brows arched. "Mmph... bastard, what are you doing?!"
Xu Yuan wrapped an arm around her waist, leaned close, and blew gently against her earlobe, speaking softly:
"Don't move."
Though he said so, Tianyan obviously wasn't going to obey.
She fought desperately to resist, her bare little feet kicking wildly in an attempt to kick him away.
Unfortunately, Xu Yuan's realm was also at the Origin Realm now. Furthermore, with her charm poison flaring up, her Source Qi sluggish, and her mind muddled,
she was entirely unable to break free from his hold.
Amid the struggle, Xu Yuan deftly flipped her over, pinned her two slender arms behind her back, and pressed her face-down across his lap.
"Xu Yuan, you bastard!"
Looking at the young woman wriggling relentlessly across his thighs like a frightened quail, Xu Yuan said impassively,
"Keep running your mouth, and I'll strip your clothes off."
"You dare?!" Tianyan froze, turning her head to glare at him.
Xu Yuan reached out, caught the ornate rear collar of her pale purple celestial dress, and chuckled softly.
"Lady Saintess has quite a short memory. It's not like I haven't done it before."
"..."
Tianyan pressed her rosy lips tight and glared at him, but spoke no more.
Seeing that this washboard Saintess had finally settled down, Xu Yuan let go of her collar and murmured softly,
"It has already been ten days since we fled. They can't possibly catch up so quickly. Besides, traveling in your current condition wouldn't be fast anyway. Better to recover here before moving on."
With that,
Xu Yuan whispered gently,
"I'm coming in. Don't fight it."
Saying this,
he deftly lifted a corner of Tianyan's celestial dress and slipped his hand underneath. The instant he touched the delicate skin of the young woman's back—
"Nngh..."
A flirtatious, soft moan slipped out.
Xu Yuan glanced down at the young woman lying across his lap.
Tianyan was also looking back at him, her cheeks flushed crimson, though her languid, seductive eyes held a flicker of indignation.
After meeting his gaze for a few breaths,
tears welling in her eyes, she ground her teeth and spat out three words:
"Scoundrel."
"Guilty as charged."
Xu Yuan chuckled, not bothering to defend himself.
Given their current cultivation, they could run their arts and heal injuries through clothing or even without physical contact, but the efficiency would be lower.
Moreover,
only a fool would pass up free advantages.
Xu Yuan's large hand reached further, groping beneath the young woman's clothes.
Seeing this, the young woman lying across his lap bit down directly on his thigh.
Xu Yuan furrowed his brows, but said nothing. Finding the entrance to the Huiyuan acupoint, he channeled his Source Qi inside...
"..."
Her body, heightened in sensitivity by the charm poison, trembled slightly, but she bit down relentlessly on his thigh, refusing to utter a sound.
Over seven years, she had learned how to keep from crying out during treatment.
Because the moment she made a sound, this scoundrelly bastard would tease her.
Xu Yuan's gaze was dead serious.
After comprehending the Meishen Dao Charm, he had become quite adept at purging the charm poison.
Of course, if he wanted to stimulate the poison, that would be even easier.
After all,
the Meishen Dao Charm and the Charm God cherry poison shared an innate origin.
Entering the young woman's meridians once more, his Source Qi followed the familiar pathways with practiced ease, absorbing the Charm God poison along the way.
Yet as he probed deeper, Xu Yuan's brows furrowed involuntarily.
After a long while,
his gentle voice sounded softly:
"How did you get hurt this badly?"
Tianyan kept her bite on his thigh, her canine teeth sinking into his flesh through his robe, her voice muffled:
"Tianye caught up with me earlier."
"Were there others?" Xu Yuan asked gently. "Transcendent Realm?"
"Mm..."
"Sigh..."
With a soft sigh, a trace of pity surfaced in Xu Yuan's eyes.
Ten days ago, when the pursuers arrived, she had told them to split up and flee.
Now it seemed she had drawn the pursuers' attention away herself...
Thinking of this, Xu Yuan's gaze turned somewhat dejected.
He was too weak.
He possessed the cultivation of the Origin Realm in name, but none of its actual combat prowess.
"I'm sorry..."
"..."
The sudden apology caught Tianyan off guard. Lying across his lap, she shifted her body somewhat unnaturally. After more than a dozen breaths of silence, her voice came very softly:
"You bastard... at least you're much better than in the beginning."
Xu Yuan chuckled.
"Heh... I'll catch up to you as soon as possible."
The corners of Tianyan's lips curved slightly, her beautiful eyes half-closed.
"Just you? Achieve Dao fusion first, then we'll talk."
"Once I achieve Dao fusion, I'll be able to manipulate the Charm God poison inside your body from a distance."
"That's just fine, then. I hate having physical contact with you."
"Heh, I meant stimulating it."
"Scoundrel..."
"Guilty as charged."
"Hmph."
The conversation ended, and silence descended as the sinking sun shed its last lingering rays of twilight.
Tonight was moonless. Darkness blanketed the earth, and the forest sank into a deathly stillness.
After an unknown span of time,
"Xu Yuan."
A bone-chilling voice suddenly rang out, breaking the quiet. "Have you had enough?"
"Hm?"
"I'm asking if you've touched enough."
"I'm helping heal your injuries."
"Healing injuries? If you don't pull your hand out right now, I'll chop it off."
"All right, all right, I'm pulling it out. You've practically bitten through the flesh on my thigh, and you're still blaming me..."
"Hurry up... Wait, why are you feeling downward?! You bastard!!"
As if sensing something, Tianyan threw an elbow back straight toward Xu Yuan's face.
Without holding back in the least!
As the gust of wind bore down, Xu Yuan's pupils constricted. Circulating his cultivation technique, a bloody gleam lit up in his eyes as he hastily raised his hand to block.
*Smack.*
A whirlwind swept past.
The young woman's translucent elbow was caught in his grasp.
Xu Yuan, still harboring lingering fear, clicked his tongue:
"If I don't move downward, how am I supposed to pull it out?"
With residual blush lingering on her cheeks, Tianyan leapt off his lap and hovered in midair.
"You think I don't know what you're thinking, you pervert? Thinking with your lower half, without even checking where we are!"
Xu Yuan shamelessly grinned:
"It's only human nature. Who told you to be so pretty?"
"..."
Meeting his gaze for an instant, Tianyan's bright eyes flickered, her clear golden pupils turning away.
"Cut the chatter. Let's go."
With that, she flickered and vanished from the spot as if fleeing.
Xu Yuan chuckled, slowly rose from the ground, pushed off his feet to follow, and asked via voice transmission:
"Hey, where are we staying now?"
Tianyan fell silent for a moment before replying:
"There's an ancient battlefield ahead. It should let us hide for a while."
"Zhujian Valley?" Xu Yuan asked.
"Mm," Tianyan answered.
Xu Yuan hesitated slightly:
"That place... seems to be a forbidden zone, doesn't it?"
Her long hair dancing in the dark night, the young woman seemed in high spirits as she looked back, her tone teasing:
"Don't be scared. Even if we enter a forbidden zone, this big sister will protect you, you bastard."
Chapter 378